Category: Lectionary

Who’s eating whom?

12 August 2018
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 14B (RCL)
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Psalm 130
Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

In our semi-continuous reading of 2 Samuel, we skip over all the lurid bits – the rape of Tamar, Absalom’s revolt, David’s flight, and return – the whole interesting history of the monarchy of David. Funny that one of the songs he should be remembered for reads, “The Lord repaid me as my righteousness deserved; because my conduct was spotless he rewarded me, for I have kept to the ways of the Lord and have not turned from my God to wickedness” (2 Samuel 22:21-22). Continue reading “Who’s eating whom?”

Come to Jesus

5 August 2018
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 13B (RCL)
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Psalm 51:1-13
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35

This week, we continue the story of David and Bathsheba with Nathan’s parable of judgment. Speaking judgment directly to the king could be a risky business, so Nathan has to find a way to get David to pronounce the judgment himself. The parable of the rich man and the poor man and their sheep is the perfect device. It subtly reminds the king that his vocation is to guard the poor, rather than side with the rich, and calls David out for his specific crime at the same time. Continue reading “Come to Jesus”

Kings behaving badly

15 July 2018
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10B (RCL)
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
Psalm 24
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29

The story of the beheading of John the Baptist, in this form, is unique to Mark. Each of Matthew and Luke soften the story and move it to a different place in their narrative. It doesn’t ‘feel’ like a Marcan composition, but instead like a tradition he dropped into his own narrative. The first few verses very awkwardly introduce the flashback, which then reads like an integral narrative. That raises the question why Mark chooses to include it precisely here. Continue reading “Kings behaving badly”

Asleep in the boat

24 June 2018
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 7B (RCL)
1 Samuel 17:1a, 4-11, 19-23, 32-49
Psalm 9:9-20
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41

The bulk of Mark’s Gospel (from 4:35 through 8:10) is organized around a repeated pair of miracles; a sea crossing and a feeding in the wilderness. This pattern should be familiar to readers of the Old Testament. Moses led the people across the Red Sea and fed them with manna in the wilderness. And just so we don’t miss the connection, Jesus’ first miracle after disembarking from the first miraculous crossing is the destruction of a demon named Legion (a unit of the Roman army) in a herd of 2000 pigs drowned in the sea, just as Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the sea. Continue reading “Asleep in the boat”

The scrappy kingdom

17 June 2018
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 6B (RCL)
1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Mark 4:26-34

There is an odd little puzzle hidden in this passage from 1 Samuel: why does Samuel take a heifer to Bethlehem? Almost every sacrifice described in the Old Testament involves a male animal a year old. Jonathan Z. Smith (The Domestication of Sacrifice) points out that killing sexually immature male animals with unwanted qualities is a way of breeding the herd for desirable characteristics. What to do with that meat? Eat it, of course. Continue reading “The scrappy kingdom”

Kin(g)ship

10 June 2018
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 5B (RCL)
1 Samuel 8:4-15; 11:14-15
Psalm 138
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Mark 3:20-35

There is a strong strand of tradition in the historical writings that sees the monarchy as a failure of faith on Israel’s part. We have here one of the clearest expressions of that tradition. The author warns the people that a king will enslave them just as Joseph and Pharaoh did in Egypt. The Joseph story, cited as one of the clearest examples of the Wisdom tale of the suffering righteous one who is finally vindicated by God, also contains in it a stern critique of Joseph. Joseph ended up enslaving his own people. One wonders if this is a critique leveled by Judah against Ephraim, Joseph being part of the Northern pantheon. Here, Israel, as so often throughout the story of the Exodus, desires to return to Egypt. Reliance on God isn’t as easy as it seems — much easier to have the certainty of knowing one’s place in the scheme of things, even if that place is at the bottom of the pyramid. Continue reading “Kin(g)ship”

Hearing God’s word

3 June 2018
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 4B (RCL)
1 Samuel 3:1-20
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Mark 2:23 – 3:6

I find it intriguing that the boy Samuel was sleeping in the presence of the ark of God. Given the later concern for fencing the ark off into the inner sanctum, the simplicity of this story is refreshing. The narrator is careful to tell us that the word of God was rare in those days, probably because of the behavior of Eli’s sons, who took the best offerings for themselves, and slept with the women who served at the entrance of the Temple. But Samuel, dedicated to God by his mother Hannah, sleeps in the presence of God. Continue reading “Hearing God’s word”

Living with delight

27 May 2018
Trinity Sunday
Year B (RCL)
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17

If I were Nicodemus, my first question to Jesus would have been, “Wait, who said anything about the kingdom of God?” Nicodemus says by way of introduction, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God for no one could do the signs you do unless God were with him.” And Jesus comes back with, “Truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again/from above.” Talk about non sequitur. Continue reading “Living with delight”

Groaning in expectation

20 May 2018
The Feast of Pentecost
Pentecost B (RCL)
Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:25-35, 37
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27, 6:4b-15

We rely so heavily on Luke’s chronology for the liturgical year, that we can hardly imagine any other role for the Spirit than the “birth of the Church” on Pentecost. The Spirit gives the rag-tag band of disciples the courage and ability to begin the proclamation of salvation to all the peoples of the world, beginning in Jerusalem. Continue reading “Groaning in expectation”

Consecrated in truth

13 May 2018
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Easter 7B (RCL)
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19

For the liturgical year, the Church has adopted Luke’s chronology, but we don’t read Luke’s story each year, so the other Gospels are shoe-horned into Luke’s pattern. In Luke’s pattern, Jesus ascended into heaven (his apotheosis) forty days after his resurrection, so we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday forty days after Easter, but then we read from John’s Gospel this Sunday. For John, there is no real apotheosis, but Jesus is always in the process of going to the Father. On the evening of Easter, he breathes on his disciples to give them the Holy Spirit, so there is no need to wait to Pentecost. Continue reading “Consecrated in truth”